AMES, Iowa -- Virtual reality is about to grow up. C6, the first virtual reality theater
in the United States designed to totally immerse the user in images and sound, will open on June 19 at Iowa State University.

C6, located in the atrium of the College of Engineering's Howe Hall, will
not only push the boundaries of virtual reality (VR) technology, it will
also turn VR into a much more useful engineering tool.

"C6 is one of
the most exciting projects that we have ever undertaken," said Iowa
State Engineering Dean James Melsa. "It is truly a one-of-a-kind,
world-class facility. The applications that will be run in C6 will lead to
new ways for scientists to do research and for companies to do product
development. But what makes C6 unique is the focus on real-world
applications, real-world engineering."

"C6 will provide a
space where real engineering can be accomplished in a virtual
environment," added Jim Bernard, director of Iowa State's Virtual
Reality Applications Center (VRAC). "C6 is the first wireless, six-sided
virtual reality theater and it will be home to some very interesting
engineering projects."

A preview of the $6 million C6 for
the media is scheduled for 4 p.m., June 19. The formal unveiling will be at
7:30 p.m. C6's unveiling is being held in conjunction with the International
Immersive Projection Technology 2000 workshop, a leading international
conference on virtual reality and immersion technologies.

Virtual reality uses
computer images and sound to create environments that can be experienced as
"real" to the user. There are several virtual reality
technologies, including head-mounted displays, virtual reality desk systems
and virtual reality rooms. The idea is to "immerse" the user into
a world that exists only as computer images.

But each of the current
technologies has limitations. C6 will change that.

C6 will have images
projected on all six of its sides (four walls, ceiling and floor). Many of
today's virtual reality rooms have images projected on only four sides
(three walls and the floor).

Traditional cabling for gloves and
headsets, essential tools that provide perspective and allow user
interaction with images, will be gone. They will be replaced by wireless
systems that will give users of C6 an unprecedented level of freedom within
its walls.

"By going wireless, we can provide full motion so you are
really immersed in data," said Carolina Cruz-Neira, Litton assistant
professor of electrical and computer engineering at Iowa State and associate
director of VRAC. "When you are in there you will forget which wall is
the door. You will not realize you are in a virtual environment."

In
addition, the latest computers and graphics will provide crisp, bright and
realistic images that respond to human interaction. Many of the systems used
in C6 and built by leading computer and graphics vendors, have yet to be
commercialized.

"C6 will open new avenues for research on the
applications of virtual reality to science and engineering challenges,"
Cruz-Neira said. "C6 will provide a room where the users will share
virtual worlds, as well as experience perspectives unique to their location
and vantage point."

In C6, researchers will be able to walk inside
buildings that no longer exist, get close-up views of severe weather
phenomena like tornadoes and inspect the interior of operating industrial
furnaces to make them more efficient. Cruz-Neira says C6 will be a powerful
tool for each of these applications because it will literally put the user
right in the middle of the action.

"It will provide full,
look-around capabilities," Cruz-Neira explained. "With
architectural models like the Notre Dame cathedral, you will be able to look
up and see the paintings and designs on the ceiling. Inside an industrial
furnace, you will be able to check the flow, which would go up overhead, and
see how location of the burners can affect overall system efficiency. And
you will be able to do this with more than one person experiencing
it."

C6 has a 10-by-10-by-10-foot room of workable space. Entrance will
be through the back wall which, when closed, will have no noticeable seams
along its surfaces. High resolution color images will surround the user via
six, rear-projected high intensity projectors. Four wall projectors provide
images directly on the surfaces. The ceiling and floor projectors will
bounce images off mirrors before reaching the surface.

C6 will use SGI
Onyx2 computers running special software to create simulations, produce
sounds, track feedback and generate images. Six Barco projectors provide
real-time 3-D images on the display surfaces. Ascension Technology Corp.,
wireless trackers allow the users to interact with the virtual world. The
system was designed and implemented by MechDyne Corp., in cooperation with
researchers at VRAC.

Iowa State will continue to operate its existing VR
facility, the C2, and will link the two facilities and explore distributed
virtual reality.

"Distributed VR is the future," Cruz-Neira said.
"It will allow researchers in two or more different facilities, which
could be located in different places anywhere in the world, to share their
experiences and help come to solutions on tough engineering
problems."

The Virtual Reality Applications Center is a member of the
Institute for Physical Research and Technology, a network of research,
technology development and technology transfer entities at Iowa State
University. For more information on VRAC, visit
http://www.vrac.iastate.edu/.

C6 is financed through university
and federal funds as well as private gifts to the ISU Foundation.

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Editors:Reporters are welcome to come experience C6, the first
six-sided virtual reality theater. A media availability for reporters is
scheduled for 4 p.m., June 19. The experience is very visual and
photographic. Please contact Skip Derra, ISU News Service, 515/294-4917 if
you would like to attend.